1. Field of the Invention
The present inventions generally pertain to retaining walls for use in the road construction industry, and more particularly to improved connection systems and related methods for use with mechanically stabilized earth walls.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known within a variety of fields to construct retaining walls for various purposes. Within the road construction industry, for example, it is known to erect temporary and permanent retaining walls for embankments, roadway supports, bridge abutments and the like. It is also known that these retaining walls can be constructed using a variety of techniques and materials, including, for example, concrete and/or welded wire components. An example of a precast modular wall panel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,704 to Ogorchock. Examples of retaining walls constructed using welded wire components may be found in a number of U.S. patents, including, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,686 to Hilfiker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,089 to Hilfiker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,557 to Hilfiker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,621 to Hilfiker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,939 to Hilfiker, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,799 to Hilfiker.
In the above-listed patents, the precast concrete panels, which are used to form earth walls, are mechanically-stabilized by the use of welded wire grids or steel mesh soil mats that are connected to wire or steel anchor members that are precast and partially embedded into the concrete panels. Instead of these metallic grids and wire/steel anchor members, however, another approach to stabilizing precast concrete panels has developed in which geosynthetic grid materials are used instead of steel and wire components. One advantage of this approach is that geosynthetic grid materials are less expensive than steel. As will become apparent from the following descriptions and discussion, the present inventions employ the use of geosynthetic materials in unique and novel ways to achieve improved connection systems and related methods in comparison to those disclosed in the above-listed disclosures.